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Former Nottingham Forest striker Robert Earnshaw is expecting a "really interesting" Europa League semi-final between his old club and Aston Villa.

Despite a difficult season in which they have cycled through three permanent managers, Forest are unbeaten in six Premier League games and have moved five points clear of the relegation zone with four matches to play.

Villa have been plagued by inconsistency in recent months but are in a strong position to get a place in next season's Champions League through the Premier League table.

"The level at the bottom of the Premier League is very high right now and Forest show that," Earnshaw told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"Last year they qualified for Europe and finished in the top seven but now they are fighting relegation and in the semi-finals of the Europa League.

"They are good enough and the quality of their players is good enough.

"Forest have hit form. In the last month they've been on fire. I think they will stay in the Premier League easily now, they've taken care of that. Now it's whether they can achieve history. If they beat Villa they are in the final of a European competition and that is so big for Forest.

"These two teams drew 1-1 not long ago in the league and you feel like between them it's always small little details in the game that changes things. That's how close they are.

"Villa will have an advantage because of Unai Emery's experience, but then you've got the unknown and nothing to lose attitude of Forest. It will be a really interesting tie.

"When you hit Europe everything is fresh. It's not the Premier League. There is pressure too for both teams in different ways."

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Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Nottingham Forest landed the bargain of the season in Igor Jesus, according to former Botafogo boss Renato Paiva.

The striker is the Europa League's joint top goalscorer with seven going into Thursday's semi-final first leg against Aston Villa at the City Ground.

Forest paid Botafogo £10m for Jesus last summer and the 25-year-old has 15 goals.

Paiva said: "Pedro Ferreira [Forest's head of recruitment] worked with me at Benfica and he asked me about Igor and I said: 'Wow, my friend, he's an incredible player.'

"When we spoke about the price, I said: 'My god, this is very, very cheap.' Before the Club World Cup, even cheaper.

"He's a very complete player. The number nine I think all the coaches are searching for. He's the first guy that defends - you say to press and he presses, you say to close the spaces and he close spaces. He's a very clever guy and understands what the coaches want."

Forest struck a deal before the Club World Cup last year, with Jesus scoring in Botafogo's shock win over Paris St-Germain which Paiva masterminded, but his former manager believes it was an error from the Brazilians. The deal was eventually announced in July.

"It was a mistake to sell a player before the competition," said the former Benfica youth coach. "Strategically, it's an error. After the competition you probably will have better offers.

"But I understand sometimes this kind of business is defined by the timing."

Jesus has scored five in the Premier League this season, including two in his past two games - and Paiva believes Jesus could be key against top-flight rivals Villa.

"It's taken a little bit of time to adapt. The most curious thing, when you try to analyse since he arrived, are his numbers in the Premier League and his numbers in the Europa League," he said.

"Probably the Europa League is not so demanding as the Premier League.

"Against Aston Villa, it's a different environment. It's a very difficult game for Nottingham Forest and for Igor.

"Aston Villa are one of the best teams of the Premier League, with one of the best coaches in the world - but this is not the Premier League, it's the Europa League and Igor can surprise us with another very good performance."

Manchester United do not want to get into a bidding war for Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Elliot Anderson, 23, who is also a target for Manchester City, and could turn to other targets such as Brighton's Cameroon international Carlos Baleba. (ESPN, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina says Vitor Pereira's side are "relishing" the prospect of an all-Premier League Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa.

Forest make the short trip from East to West Midlands for Thursday's first leg unbeaten in six in the Premier League and after taking a huge step towards survival with a big win at Sunderland on Friday.

"We're working hard every week. We're looking forward to a semi-final now," Aina told the media in Forest's pre-match news conference.

"The boss has done a great job but everyone has put in hard work. We're reaping the benefits of that.

"I don't really think there's that much pressure on us. We're all very proud to be in this semi-final.

"It's definitely a special feeling. It's a massive night for the club and the players. Everyone is relishing it.

"We're just focused on what we do. It doesn't matter about other results [in the Premier League]. We have our objectives."

Aina was out from the beginning of September to the end of December with a hamstring injury, only returning for the final two games of the league phase of the Europa League.

He missed 16 Premier League games but has started all 15 matches since returning to the fold.

"When I came back I found my feet game after game. I'm back now and looking forward to tomorrow," he added.

"I was buzzing that the team got through the league phase so I could be part of it and add my contribution."

Aina answered questions alongside his manager Pereira, who joked that the right-back did not need to say nice things about him and would start on Thursday regardless.

On Pereira, who took over from Sean Dyche in February, Aina added: "He's brought his ideas in and they resonated with us. He has a clear vision. Everyone has bought into that."

Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg against Aston Villa at The City Ground (20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Pereira confirmed defender Murillo will not be fit to face Villa: "He's trying to come back as soon as possible but he's not ready now. I don't believe it will be long, maybe he can be back in a few days, we will see."

• He added the medical team was "working hard" on Jair Cunha but they "don't know" if he will be fit and he was also asked for a fitness update on Dan Ndoye and Ibrahima Sangare: "It's normal to have some issues at this time of the season. We'll see tomorrow, they are trying to be ready."

• On the mood within the camp: "I think being positive is the only way to live life. We are moving our legs, we are breathing, it's good weather. The family is happy. We are ready to fight until the end, which is the only mentality I want to see."

• Looking ahead to a European semi-final, Pereira said: "It will be good energy. What I ask every time in training and in games is for good energy. With good vibes we can achieve miracles, and in the end, we can be proud of ourselves."

• Pereira made a point of paying tribute to Nuno Espirito Santo, who qualified Forest for the Europa League and began their journey, and Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche who both won games in charge during their run: "First of all I need to speak about the managers before me who played in the Europa League, who helped get to this moment. This is not about me, it's about the club."

• He was asked about taking inspiration from legendary former Forest boss Brian Clough, who won the European Cup twice with the club: "If we want to put our names in the history of this club we need to get to the final and win it. Of course he is an inspiration for us. Tomorrow is a big chance for our supporters and for us to reach a final. We will do everything we can to move forward."

• More on Clough: "He's a strong character, not just a top player and manager. This week I went into the city and saw a big statue of him. I'm not thinking about a statue, but we can imagine what he did for this city, because it stays in the city and the hearts of the people until now."

• Pereira offered perspective when looking at the task facing his team: "Almost all of us have a fantastic life. When we say it's a big challenge, of course it is, but it's a good challenge. For some people, it is a challenge to move. This is a good challenge. I work in the Premier League. I have no reason to be worried, I just want to be there, enjoy it and compete."

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Players involved the last time Nottingham Forest were in a European semi-final have been reminiscing on the tie on a special episode of BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast.

It was an occasion shrouded in bitterness and controversy.

Forest were 2-0 up from the first leg of their 1984 Uefa Cup semi-final against Anderlecht, but lost the second leg 3-0 with a dubious penalty decision and disallowed goal just two of numerous decisions which aroused suspicion.

The truth behind those refereeing decisions only emerged during a 1997 criminal case when Anderlecht admitted paying the Spanish referee Emilio Guruceta Muro.

It later emerged that the former president of the Belgian club Constant Vanden Stock had paid the Spanish referee a significant amount before the game. In 1997 Anderlecht were handed a ban for a year from Uefa's competitions but a BBC investigation revealed Uefa had knowledge of the bribe years before action was taken.

The topic is still a sore one for those involved.

Looking back on the tie, former Forest defender Paul Hart said: "I had the same referee when I was playing for Leeds against Real Madrid and he sent two of our players off so Real Madrid could win. The first time we saw him was in the tunnel before the game and I said to Kenny Swain 'that's the same geezer'.

"He was totally corrupt, then you find out about it 20 years later about someone being bribed. I think the manager knew we'd been diddled. He was very quiet. It was terrible. The stadium is still named after Stock."

Goalkeeper on the day Hans van Breukelen said: "It still hurts because we couldn't play in a European final and we had a good team. Straight away I told the gaffer he was cheating. You feel that when you are on the pitch. It still hurts."

Legendary former Forest midfielder Steve Hodge added: "The thing that struck the players was we read the newspaper the day of the game and Brian Clough was spouting that he was concerned about the referee. He was always very protective of referees and tried to butter them up and get on their good side.

"But, this time he went out in public and let the referee know he was watching him carefully and had his doubts about him. As the game transpired and with what I know now, did he know something we didn't know? It was an odd thing for him to do in the papers. It was toxic from minute one. It smelt of an English team playing abroad.

"It was a period when English teams were being tarnished and sometimes provoked by European teams they visited. From minute one that night it wasn't a pleasant place to be."

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After moving one step closer to securing Premier League safety with a 5-0 win over Sunderland, Nottingham Forest can probably afford to start putting their European ambitions first now.

When the two-time European champions come up against Aston Villa, who also have one European Cup to their name, in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday night, one thing's for sure: both teams will want to take an early advantage.

Vitor Pereira's decision to field a slightly strengthened side for the club's quarter-final second leg win over Porto paid dividends, so we can except him to follow suit in what will be an even bigger tie against Premier League opposition.

But will the Reds opt to sit in or go on the attack in their home leg at the City Ground?

Well, the statistics can probably answer that one.

Forest have accumulated the best xG (27.8) in the Europa League this season, having taken 414 touches in the opposition box across their 14 fixtures in the competition, with 23 of their 88 shots on target finding the back of the net.

Only Serie A side Bologna, who were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Villa, beat the Reds in each of those three categories.

Morgan Gibbs-White will be one to watch in attack, having scored a staggering five times since the club's last Europa League outing on 16 April.

The Reds will be missing attacking impetus from Callum Hudson-Odoi, though.

The 25-year-old winger, who is out for the season with a right quadriceps muscle injury, has created 23 chances in the Europa League this season, with only three other players carving out more opportunities for their team-mates.

In addition, only three Englishmen have created more chances in a single season since records began in 2009-10: James Milner (31) and Adam Lallana (24) for Liverpool in 2015-16 and James Ward-Prowse (25) for West Ham United in 2023-24.

Nottingham Forest have a big week in Europe in facing Aston Villa, so the team on Shut Up And Show More Football have decided to look back on the last time the club featured in a continental semi-final.

It's Anderlecht, it's history, it's Steve Hodge and it's a great listen.

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Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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There is a huge amount to be said for how desperation can affect teams in a positive way.

Spurs, Nottingham Forest and West Ham each won in the Premier League this weekend. You will search long and hard to find a weekend when that happened this season as they have all struggled to fight clear of relegation.

It is the main reason why predictions are almost impossible at this time of the season. Teams and players cannot be at 100% for every game, but when desperation kicks in, you will get every ounce of effort, even if you can lose some calmness and composure as a result.

Forest and West Ham have been in this mindset for a while now, but it is only now that Spurs have finally woken up and smelled the very bitter coffee.

It was however one of the best 10-minute spells in the league this season when Spurs scored in the 82nd minute to grab two extra points against Wolves. Back in London, West Ham conceded a goal to Everton in the 88th minute, seemingly dropping two of the three points they were holding.

A four-point swing in six minutes was huge at the bottom of the table. But just a few minutes later, West Ham struck through Callum Wilson to grab those two points back again.

In these days of updates live on your phone and all modern technology it was radio gold on BBC 5 Live.

I have listened back to Ian Dennis as he reported on it all happening live and it reminded me why football, even without pictures, can be the best entertainment imaginable. The good news is it is all very likely to happen again and again before the season ends.

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